Game Day: Suns vs Mavs, WCSF Game 1, Mon 05/02/22

[iLLmatic]

fucking stupid fan chant.

I cringed at that as well.

Yeah, that sort of stuff is bulletin board material.

Lol k

[Flagrant Fowl]

I missed most of the 2nd and 3rd quarters, but this was easily my favorite highlight that I saw live.

I'm honestly a bit surprised Luka didn't immediately turn to the nearest ref and cry about a non-existent foul.

[Wally_West]

So would you guys rank Ayton among centers right now? Jokic/Embiid are 1-2, up to you who you want to put first, but those are 1-2. After that??? Idk, I think there’s a case that he’s right after those guys. He’s in the top 5, for sure.

[Uncle_Gene]

Just watched the postgame press conference. Ayton said coach got on them about closing out the game better and that they got on themselves too. He said " that'll never happen again."

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'm sure a lot of people won't agree with me, but Giannis is a Center and he played the position for pretty much this whole season. It's only now with Lopez back that he's not the designated Center. So with that..

I don't see a huge gap between players within the same tier.

Giannis
---
Jokic
Embiid
---
Ayton
Adebayo
Gobert
KAT
Davis
---
Allen
Valanciunas
Vucevic
Sabonis

[Nodack]

Just watched the postgame press conference. Ayton said coach got on them about closing out the game better and that they got on themselves too. He said " that'll never happen again."

That’s what people say the first time they get sick drinking. It’ll happen again. It happens all the time in the nba when a team goes up by a bunch and lets down at the end allowing the other team to make it interesting. You hope it will never happen again. Of course it will happen again at some point. It always does. The Suns won and the Mavs lost. I will think of it as the Mavs wasting a bunch of energy and still feeling the agony of defeat.

[ShelC]

[Split T]

I guess we technically get a clutch win for that now

I thought it had to be within 5 points?

I think the late 3 Doncic hit cut the lead to 5 before we hit ft’s to win by 7. Doesn’t have to finish within 5, just needs to be within 5 at some point in final 5 minutes.

[ShelC]

Great start to the series for the fellas. We look like we're back to normal on both sides of the ball, playing with confidence and energy. I think we caught the Mavs off guard with our defense and intensity after what they saw in the Utah series and even tho they hit a bunch of 3s to keep it relatively close, they can't be feeling good after that first game.

Luka got his, but so what. Let him play 44 minutes every game scoring 40 pts so long as Brunson and Dinwiddie are locked down. He already looked worn down in the 4th. If Kleiber is going to hit 9 threes in a row, so be it. I do have some overall concerns about us trading 2s for 3s the way we do, but I'm not so worried about that happening in this series because I don't think the Mavs have that kind of firepower - at least not enough to win 4 games (the Ws on the other hand...). I also don't see much from the Mavs' defense that they can stop us consistently. They don't have the size or length to really both us the way the Pels did.

The Mavs have no answer from DA, plain and simple. He scored at will inside and did a very good job defending the rim. Maybe Kleiber gets more time for some added size over Powell and to spread the floor, but that takes away from any interior defense and again, can he shoot like that every game?

We locked down on Brunson and Dinwiddie, who aren't scary but are better than they showed. I'd expect them to make it a point to get going in Game 2.

DFS hit a few shots but that was about as good as it gets for him. Same with Bullock.

Our guys fell right back into sync - they couldn't stop CP once he decided to get it going, Jae was back hitting 3s and got his float game going, CamJ was shooting with confidence, and Payne was getting downhill into the paint with no shotblocking near the rim. Book struggled a bit with his shot but also had 8 assists and 9 boards and got to the line 8 times so it's not like the Mavs really did much to stop him. I liked how we constantly gave Luka different looks on defense and switches - CP, Book, Mikal, Jae, Cam, DA, McGee all took turns guarding him.

Would like to see Shamet and Craig get back on track. Craig's looked especially bad lately, even his body language is off when he's out there. Thought this would be a good series for him to get back on track but Monty gave him the quick hook last night.

[Split T]

This was a really awful 4th Q for us

It wasn't that bad if we only count the 3 minutes they played hard.

I just don’t like that we gave up…sure the win is what matters, but this is a series…momentum matters. Burying them by 15+ matters

I didn't realize we were doing carry over points now.

I just didn’t like that we let them back in. Bury them game 1 and make them think the series is already over. Of course maybe I’m just upset that I missed the first 3 quarters and only really watched the 4th when we hardly tried.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I watched the first 3 quarters again and Ayton really left some points off the board early. He hesitated quite a bit against Powell in the first half and I hope that was just his way of felling out how the Mavs will play him. He was good, but there will be opportunities to have great scoring games in this series.

[Mori Chu]

Great start to the series for the fellas. We look like we're back to normal on both sides of the ball, playing with confidence and energy. I think we caught the Mavs off guard with our defense and intensity after what they saw in the Utah series and even tho they hit a bunch of 3s to keep it relatively close, they can't be feeling good after that first game.

Luka got his, but so what. Let him play 44 minutes every game scoring 40 pts so long as Brunson and Dinwiddie are locked down. He already looked worn down in the 4th. If Kleiber is going to hit 9 threes in a row, so be it. I do have some overall concerns about us trading 2s for 3s the way we do, but I'm not so worried about that happening in this series because I don't think the Mavs have that kind of firepower - at least not enough to win 4 games (the Ws on the other hand...). I also don't see much from the Mavs' defense that they can stop us consistently. They don't have the size or length to really both us the way the Pels did.

The Mavs have no answer from DA, plain and simple. He scored at will inside and did a very good job defending the rim. Maybe Kleiber gets more time for some added size over Powell and to spread the floor, but that takes away from any interior defense and again, can he shoot like that every game?

We locked down on Brunson and Dinwiddie, who aren't scary but are better than they showed. I'd expect them to make it a point to get going in Game 2.

DFS hit a few shots but that was about as good as it gets for him. Same with Bullock.

Our guys fell right back into sync - they couldn't stop CP once he decided to get it going, Jae was back hitting 3s and got his float game going, CamJ was shooting with confidence, and Payne was getting downhill into the paint with no shotblocking near the rim. Book struggled a bit with his shot but also had 8 assists and 9 boards and got to the line 8 times so it's not like the Mavs really did much to stop him. I liked how we constantly gave Luka different looks on defense and switches - CP, Book, Mikal, Jae, Cam, DA, McGee all took turns guarding him.

Would like to see Shamet and Craig get back on track. Craig's looked especially bad lately, even his body language is off when he's out there. Thought this would be a good series for him to get back on track but Monty gave him the quick hook last night.

I agree with just about all of this. The Mavs are just a way better matchup for us. Luka plus a bunch of mediocre wings? Yes please. I liked our strategy, basically single-covering Luka and letting him do everything but shutting most everyone else down. Other than Kleiba who we let have too many wide open 3s, I thought we did a great job snuffing out all their non-Luka players and forcing Luka to do too much. He played a ton of minutes and looked exhausted by the end, even grabbing at his hamstring and limping a bit. I don't think he can put the whole team on his back and beat us 4/7 times.

Loved Ayton's game and loved the way we used him, especially in the first half. Shel's right that the Mavs basically don't have an answer for him. He was getting so many easy baskets after entry passes; it was a thing of beauty. If I were a Mavs fan right now I'd be terrified of Ayton. What are they going to do? Double him and leave Cam Johnson or Crowder open for 3? Play Boban?? Good luck with that.

Overall our offensive balance was much better than theirs; we had 6 guys in double-figures (all starters + CamJ) and Payne was close with 9 points. Really only Shamet and Craig have failed to get things going this postseason. Craig looks weird, even his running gait looks kind of stilted and gimpy. His shot has a real corkscrew effect to it lately and his 3s almost never go in. I wish he'd just attack the basket and get a few rhythm layups or gimmies to go in first. Shamet, well, I just don't think he's redeemable. I really wish we would give his minutes to Holiday, but I don't think Coach is ever going to do that.

I really cringed at that "Suns in 4" chant by the crowd. Seriously, stfu with that stuff. It's one game. Between letting the Mavs back in it at the end, and then taunting them with that stupid chant, they have a lot of locker room material for the next game. Our fans should know better than to do something like that.

Full box score: https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401434070

[Split T]

Was Kleber in mostly against Ayton when he was getting his 3s? Or was it McGee? Not sure we should play McGee this series. Not that he’s not playable, but we just don’t need him and I think Craig would make more sense.

[Indy]

I'm sure a lot of people won't agree with me, but Giannis is a Center and he played the position for pretty much this whole season. It's only now with Lopez back that he's not the designated Center. So with that..

I don't see a huge gap between players within the same tier.

Giannis
---
Jokic
Embiid
---
Ayton
Adebayo
Gobert
KAT
Davis
---
Allen
Valanciunas
Vucevic
Sabonis

I agree with everything you said, except these points:
1) I think Giannis is in the same tier with Jokic and Embiid
2) I don't see Davis or Sabonis as centers--I know they probably spent as much time at C as PF, but they just don't feel like Centers to me.

Really good tier breakdown.

[specialsauce]

I'm sure a lot of people won't agree with me, but Giannis is a Center and he played the position for pretty much this whole season. It's only now with Lopez back that he's not the designated Center. So with that..

I don't see a huge gap between players within the same tier.

Giannis
---
Jokic
Embiid
---
Ayton
Adebayo
Gobert
KAT
Davis
---
Allen
Valanciunas
Vucevic
Sabonis

I agree with everything you said, except these points:
1) I think Giannis is in the same tier with Jokic and Embiid
2) I don't see Davis or Sabonis as centers--I know they probably spent as much time at C as PF, but they just don't feel like Centers to me.

Really good tier breakdown.

Agree but put jokic in the tier with DA/Gobert/etc. he’s like KAT, one way excellence. Giannis and Embiid are two way players

[dragickingdom]

I'm sure a lot of people won't agree with me, but Giannis is a Center and he played the position for pretty much this whole season. It's only now with Lopez back that he's not the designated Center. So with that..

I don't see a huge gap between players within the same tier.

Giannis
---
Jokic
Embiid
---
Ayton
Adebayo
Gobert
KAT
Davis
---
Allen
Valanciunas
Vucevic
Sabonis

I agree with everything you said, except these points:
1) I think Giannis is in the same tier with Jokic and Embiid
2) I don't see Davis or Sabonis as centers--I know they probably spent as much time at C as PF, but they just don't feel like Centers to me.

Really good tier breakdown.

Agree but put jokic in the tier with DA/Gobert/etc. he’s like KAT, one way excellence. Giannis and Embiid are two way players

DA is a two way player. I know we are harsh on him at times, but he has been awesome on defense and his midrange J gives him a scary go to on offense. On that note of two way players, I still put him behind Embiid and Giannis.

[Mori Chu]

I love how committed Saucey is to his hate of Jokic. Never change, sauce.

[Superbone]

I love how committed Saucey is to his hate of Jokic. Never change, sauce.

Saucy is like a pit bull. Once he gloms onto a guy, he doesn't let go. See Nader. I'd love to see his exchange with Nuggets fans.

[Mori Chu]

I love how committed Saucey is to his hate of Jokic. Never change, sauce.

Saucy is like a pit bull. Once he gloms onto a guy, he doesn't let go. See Nader. I'd love to see his exchange with Nuggets fans.

I hope somehow we arrange trades this offseason to acquire Jokic, Nader, and Kelly Oubre. He'd have an aneurysm.

[Wally_West]